Belly Fat Exercises for Men
It sticks to our midsection more than anywhere else, destroys our self-confidence, and can make simple tasks unenjoyable: we’re talking about belly fat gentlemen. These simple exercises are designed to get you up and moving regardless of your current fitness level, and constantly help you burn belly fat to shred your core, lose weight, and look the best you ever have. You don’t have to practice each of these every single day. Instead, revisit this list often and randomly select five of the fifteen exercises, and do those for your workout to give it a little variety. They all abolish belly fat, but they also build your core in different ways. Let’s get into these simple exercises.
1. Crunches
Pretty basic stuff, right? No news here. Crunches are still one of the most effective ways to eliminate belly fat because you’re not only moving the fat itself around, but you’re engaging core muscles that might be underneath a layer of fat.
Work your way from simple crunches to raised knee crunches, and continue to advance as time goes on. The trick to crunches is to only do what you can, and not overexert yourself. Practice proper neck support and don’t injure yourself just to lose some weight.
Crunches are progressive, meaning that if you aren’t hitting the number that you want on day one, don’t worry: you’re building and sculpting your core muscles, and it’s going to take some time. Keep this in your daily regimen, and before long you’ll be amazed at just how much belly fat you burn through. And the best thing? You can do them anywhere, just need to have your yoga mat handy.
2. Captain’s Chair
While the name’s a bit silly, the results are far from it. You’ll need a sturdy chair and to put it on the carpet instead of something where it can slip. Sit down, your bum on the edge of the seat, hands on the back of the chair, and pull your knees up to your chest as high as you can go.
This is an insanely low impact way to get a ton of power into your midsection, without having to put excess stress on your knees. You’re not working against excess body weight to provide resistance, you’re starting at a fundamental level, and that’s a good thing.
This works out your midsection, but it puts a heavy emphasis on your lower abdomen. You’ll feel a bit of a burn in the back of your thighs, but as long as you hold your core nice and tight while you do these, you’re also going to feel the tension in your lower abdomen.
3. Goblet Squats
Try not to laugh at the name of this exercise, and instead focus on the crazy core benefits that you’re going to receive. You’ll need a free weight of at least ten pounds to feel the full effect of this one, so you can use a medicine ball for this exercise.
Hold the weight with the ball of your hands, pressing those hands together to keep it suspended. You hold one end, while the other end dangles beneath it. Make sure you have a good grip, keep your core straight and tight, and then dip into a squat.
Fifteen of these every single day is going to effectively burn fat across your entire midsection, not just one little area. Where regular squats with a squat rack or barbell is going to focus on your chest, thighs, and shoulders, this is designed to put in a bit of a leg workout, but keep the main focus on your core.
4. Kettlebell Swings
Grab a kettle bell, and get ready to do one of the most simple exercises of your entire life. Perform an alternating hand swing, and keep your core nice and tight. You don’t have to do crazy wingspan swings here, just enough to tug on your core and let you feel what’s going on.
You’ll want to keep your shoulders back, your back straight, and assume a mild squatting position to really get the most out of this. Keep your eyes forward and count your swings. Do what you’re capable of, and listen to your body. It’s easy to do a hefty number of these, and then bring on more fatigue than you bargained for.
5. Step-Up Jumps
Have you ever seen those videos on Instagram of a guy stepping on top of a box, then down, then up with his other leg? It looks silly, but it’s one of the best core exercises you can perform to get rid of belly fat.
Those steps not only work out your legs but also alternate a twisting motion on your core, while staying low impact for the rest of your body. You’re mostly putting pressure on your hips and hip flexors, but by holding your core nice and tight, you’re keeping tension where it needs to be. Simple to perform, and can be done without having to buy equipment. Or you can use an adjustable workout bench.
6. Bear Crawl
You can’t turn away on us now. Bear crawls are known to be one of the most labor-intensive workouts, but damn it will get you moving in no time. These work out so many different parts of your body that it’s insane, including your arms, hands, wrists, shoulders, lower abdomen muscles, the list goes on and on.
Your toes should be touching the ground, you should be on your hands, and your knees need to be raised for this to work. It’s a tricky position to get into and can take some practice for proper form. Crawl with alternating movements between your feet and hands for as long as you can, then double back and do it again.
7. Burpees
I swear we’re not trying to kill you with these workouts. Burpees work your whole body, but the crunching motion of your core puts a heavy emphasis on burning belly fat. You’re also workout out your chest, shoulders, and legs at the same time, for a completely trimmed down look.
We’d love to write about how to do a burpee, but there are so many ways to do it improperly that we’re going to let our friends at BuiltLean explain proper burpee form.
8. Russian Twist
This one is going to give you major burn right off rip, but it’s the right kind of burn that you want to feel. Sitting on the floor, lean back to raise your legs. Keep them extended, relax those knees a bit so you’re not keeping them stick straight. Put your hands behind your head as if you were about to do crunches.
We’re getting somewhere. Now you’re going to twist your body. When you move your legs to the left, move your head to the right to twist your body. Keep those legs together to get the full effect. If you don’t want to put your hands behind your head, you can also hold them at a ninety-degree angle next to your chest.
9. Cubicle Crunches
That’s our name for it, because this is something you can do while you’re working, walking or driving, and it’s not going to be noticed by anyone. You know how we’ve told you to hold your core nice and tight throughout all of these exercises?
Well, that’s all you have to do. When you hold your core tight during exercise, you’re engaging it, using the tension or your workout to impact your abs in a positive way. Tightening your abdominal muscles while working or going on a walk is still going to work those muscles, but keep in mind, it’s the least impactful on this list. Everyone has to start somewhere, so engage, tighten and start shredding that belly fat.
10. Jumping Rope
You don’t have to revisit those old primary school days (I know I’m better off leaving those in the back of my head), but you can get some major core benefits from jumping rope at least twice a week. Get a weighted training rope, and get to it.
If you have excess belly fat, this isn’t going to be the most comforting exercise. You will feel it move around a bit from jumping, but it’s a good thing: we’re moving everything around, accessing muscles that lay underneath, and abolishing belly fat like the 18th amendment.
11. Interval Jogging
When you want to burn belly fat, there are two ways to do it: cardio and strength training. This is going to marry those two ideas. Go on a brisk jog, something that elevates your heart rate without making you feel dead, and every five minutes stop to do five crunches.
You can set little timers on your phone or alarms to help remind you, or use a regular fitness tracker. What this does is use that elevated heart rate to burn fat, and while your body is in the business of shedding that fat, you’re introducing a core strength exercise.
There’s something called the afterburn effect in strength training, where your body continues to burn fat for a crazy amount of hours after your workout has ended. We’re going to try and achieve that while knowing that we shed weight from the initial jog. So what are you waiting for? Put on those running shoes and running jacket and hit the road.
12. Ab Wheel Push-Ups
These are a simplified version of a normal push-up, which we know usually targets your arms and chest. This one works differently because you’re going to do a modified version of a standard pull-up by keeping your knees and toes firmly on the floor.
Roll it out while keeping that core nice and tight, and pull it back using the strength in your shoulders, still holding that core tight and flat. After the first roll, you’re going to curse your ab machine, but you’ll also feel the effects of one of the best belly fat burning exercises ever.
This works out all three levels of your core because you’re recoiling your entire midsection when you pull back up, even if it doesn’t feel that way at first. Ten of these will have you truly appreciate the core muscles you do have, and that you’re building on.
13. Weighted Lunges
Hold up, before you say that this isn’t a belly fat burning exercise. If you’ve attempted lunges in the past and didn’t feel much, or think that you know what they feel like based on what people do, then you might have the wrong idea.
You need to hold your core nice and tight and keep those shoulders back while you do this. You want a full 90-degree angle on the knee that you’re applying pressure to. The trick is holding that composure. Sure, this helps out with your upper thigh muscles and overall leg strength, (and we do not want to skip leg day, gentlemen), but it does more than that.
If you can hold that position, keep your eyes forward and really put your all into it, we guarantee you’ll start feeling the burn after your third weighted lunge. Use some 2.5 lb weights, dumbbells or a couple of water bottles, but add that weight to add more resistance to your workout.
14. Bicycle Pumps
On your back and on the floor, you’re going to put your hands behind your head and extend your elbows. Pull up the right knee while you crunch with the left elbow, alternate, and then keep at it for high intensity. This exercise works like a mixture of your core, your obliques, and tests those thigh muscles at the same time.
You’ll notice a major impact on your lower abdomen, which isn’t the same as actually riding a bicycle, but it piles on the progress in your lower midsection so you aren’t left with a small bump at the bottom of your belly.
Simply sticking to the central core and upper abdomen workouts are still going to be effective, but it’s not going to give you the aesthetics that you’re going for when this is all over. Bicycle pumps are the best equalizer for a flat stomach.
15. Twist Crunches
We began the list with crunches, and we’re ending it with crunches. Twist crunches tackle a different area of your midsection, being your obliques. These are those flat muscles on the sides of your belly that, when you shred properly, look like you’re Brad Pitt in 1995.
Twist crunches require you to lean in a bit to the left on your way up, then a bit to the right on the next. You’re still burning fat in your core, but you’re putting the focal point of muscle building on your obliques. This is a major help, especially if stubborn belly fat has begun to accumulate in a muffin top shape on your hips.
This is something we recommend doing after you’re used to crunches, though you can start them right away if you choose. They’re a bit more difficult and labor intensive, so if you get that form down first, you’ll be able to do these like a professional trainer in a matter of weeks.
Get on the Good Foot
If your home gym is lacking a bit, you could always take a look at our home gym equipment buying guide for some inspiration. You don’t need a crazy budget to get in a good workout, but having the right equipment can definitely shorten the amount of time you spend to get the same results. Keep at it every day, hydrate and allow your body time to rest, and belly fat will be a problem of the past.
